yeah, taking the swaybar off was the second thing i did - after taking off the skid plate.

that's what i'm saying -- i pushed the shock up and was able to pull the bottom out to the front, and then everything was loose and fine, but i still could see no possible way of pulling the whole piece entirely under the a-arm. the XREAS line keeps it from being able to be pulled enough to get the upper part of the strut/coil under the a-arm.

 

Since you can pull the bottom out first, can you somehow lower it enough so you can clear the top and then use the compressor while it's all out and still connected to the xreas line?

Another idea which I'm not sure if this will work or not (don't have truck on me nor am I home to read the svc manual), is to trace the xreas line and see how much slack there is. I know the xreas line is connected to the suspension for support but has slack. You might be able to disconnect the connection tab as this may give you more flexibility on the line itself? Do you get what I mean?

Sometimes when you work on old car suspension where the brake lines are attached to the shock, you gotta first disconnect the lines from the shock so you'll have more room. So it might be the same setup for the xreas. Take a look at tell me what you think.

 

See if you post a couple of pics from different angles.

The XREAS line allows for very little wiggle room on mine.

 

okay ... I just ran out in my socks to look around a bit more ... I will post pictures in just a second.

But yeah, the XREAS line is attached to a valve pretty much RIGHT THERE, so there is no mount to disconnect or anything ... But hang on just a second and I'll post some pics.

 

OK here are some pics of the XREAS line on my Runner while it is standing on the ground. SO it will even less wiggle room once it is jacked up.

 

sorry for the low quality of these pictures -- these are from the passenger side, by the way ... and looking straight on.

the red line follows the xreas line (by the way, this is with the wheel/tire off, and jacked up):



the red line on this one shows about where the top ends up being when you dislodge the bottom of the strut from its groove (i will try to take pictures of it actually off tomorrow, but it is hard to hold it up with one hand and take a picture with the other ... and i had to set things back in their place overnight):

 

A probably stupid idea, but once you have the bottom of the strut out can't you push/jack the suspension up again so the A arm goes up till you free the strut at the top. Or is there too little wiggle room at the bottom?

 

bulldog's photo helped alot. I totally forgot about the steering component. Crap...

Hmm, is there any way for you to compress the coil while in the stock position? After that you can then use a floor jack to press up on the lower a-arm to compress the shock so the center bolt will get pushed in slightly. I really don't have any other idea but to ask 02runner as he is the only person I know that has done it himself physcially. I know he had helpers but he was there to get it done.

Basically the way he did it was the way I pretty much though it would be. It's a pita I gotta tell ya but I know there's a way to get those in there.

 

Well ... I didn't know you could jack the a-arm up ... I mean, after I jack it down to free the bottom, I usually remove the jack completely, so the a-arm can go back to its normal position ...

but you mean that I can actually jack the a-arm up past that?? hmmm.

 

the CV thing is what is in the way ... if it weren't there, you could pop the bottom of the strut out in that direction, and have WAYYYY more room to pull the strut under the a-arm.

 

Keep in mind that you'll have to remove the bottle jack on the upper a-arm or else it won't move at all.

 

yes, i know ... i put that in my last post up there ... soon as i get the bottom freed up, i remove the jack from the a-arm.

 

well the key to jacking the bottom is this:

you want to compress the shock so the center bolt will be pushed in. The only way this will work is by using the spring compressor at the same time and compress the spring first.

Hope that makes sense.

Once the spring is compressed and the shock is as well, you can then remove the top nut and the plate and then install the spacer and reinstall.

crossing fingers on this end.

 

center bolt pushed in???

into what? sheesh. confuzzling.

 

I'm thinking maybe you should wait for the DFW WAT. I think there will be people there that can get all this knocked out no problem.

as for the boot question above about needing to be replaced, yes it needs to be replaced if it is damaged and you shouldn't throw it all back together and drive it up to the alignment shop. you should either get a new ball joint assy or just get a new boot and install it while it is still disconnected. reason being is that the ball joint has to be separated in order to replace the boot. which is another reason I was suggesting using a puller from autozone to keep from damaging the boots.

 

just finished catching up on this thread, sorry I missed all this stuff. I was out of town for about 5 days and now I'll be gone again until next Sunday so I guess I'll miss the whole thing, including the WAT.

 

keisur - I most likely won't be in town for the WAT, and aside from that, I am so very close to getting this done, if I can just maneuver the strut to a good spot. As I said in the other thread - I did have a puller, as well as a fork. But I gave up on all that because Lance brought to my attention the fact that you don't have to separate the balljoints to do this. They are already going to be doing at least two lifts at the WAT. Mostly, I just need 02Runner to chime in since he is the only one I know of who has XREAS and took part in the lift process ... so he should be able to help me out with this one thing ... but he's apparently hiding right now.

I'm sorry you won't get to go to the WAT either, but there are enough of us in this area that I'm sure we will have another soon enough. You and I aren't the only ones who can't make it ... Herk can't either, because his wife is having a baby ...

 

4route:

Getting a hold of 02runner will be a challenging task. He's pretty busy and also out of the country alot so that limits his online access time. Hopefully he'll give ya some guidance. If not, I hope my directions help ya out.

 

Lance - Thanks for letting me know, I thought maybe I had just annoyed the crap out of him!

Thank you also for your help - I'm fixing to go out there pretty soon and putter around ... maybe this time I'll be able to take some pics of the strut when I have the bottom out.

 

okay ... well ... update. I was able to get the strut to a position which let me compress the coil ... so, I compressed the coil enough to have about 3/8" play (which is what the daystar directions say ... even though i'm using revtek) on the strut. so finally I'm ready to take the top center bolt off, i go to do so and find that it is on sooooo tightly that I cannot get it loose at all. there isn't much room in there to work, and it is on there so tight that when I'm using two things to try and get it off, it just spins and the pliers don't hold tightly to it.

any suggestions?

one of the most frustrating parts of this is that the second I make an inch of progress in the overall lift installation, I run into a new problem.

but the good news is, I was finally able to position it and compress the coil successfully ... I'M GETTING SOOOOOO CLOSE IF I COULD JUST GET THIS TOP BOLT LOOSE!

what kind of tools should I be using to do that? my wrist is all scratched up from knocking against the brake disc. haha. no one will ever want to hold my hand now! (not like anyone did in the first place, but, ya know, now i'm all car-greasy)